US Soldiers Deployed to Somalia Teaching Partners How to Drive Trucks | VOA

When dozens of American soldiers deployed to Mogadishu back in April, their presence marked the first American military forces in Somalia, except for a small unit of counterterrorism advisers, since March 1994.

VOA broke the story of their arrival, and now, VOA has learned more about their train-and-equip mission in Mogadishu.

Soldiers sent to Somalia with the 101st Airborne are primarily training truck drivers for the Somali military, Maj. Gen. Joseph Harrington, the commander of U.S. Army Africa, told VOA in an exclusive interview.

“They are training Somalis how to drive to keep their logistics going,” Harrington said.

The general was able to see the training-and-equipping course first-hand when he visited Somalia in June. He said the Army was pleased with the results so far